Stay on target

In the Halo video games Master Chief can get away with being a blank slate in faceless space soldier armor because players just project themselves onto him anyway. It’s hilarious that it’s a big deal when more recent games give us the briefest glimpses of his fleshy human face and eyes. But the Halo TV show needs to put a real dude in that outfit. And now we know who that dude is. Pablo Schreiber, who you may remember from Orange is the New Black or American Gods, is your live-action Master Chief for the upcoming Showtime Halo series.

We keep saying it but it’s true, the relative disappointment of the Xbox One hardware has really shifted Microsoft’s future gaming strategies is some truly fascinating ways. What other company is spending Super Bowl commercial money promoting a controller designed specifically for accessibility? And with this generation likely wrapping up pretty soon, we probably have no clue what Microsoft’s full future plans are. But as more tidbits keep trickling out it’s clear those plans are bigger than the Xbox.

First we got some more details on the upcoming live-action Halo TV series on Showtime. Despite being the biggest Xbox #brand, and one of the biggest names in shooters in its heyday, like most video games Halo hasn’t had an easy time transitioning into other mediums. Neill Blomkamp’sDistrict 9 is built on the ashes of his failed Halo project with Peter Jackson. And does anyone remember that weird Halo: Nightfall series starring Luke Cage himself Mike Coulter?

But the Halo TV series is still happening. After losing previous director Rupert Wyatt Showtime announced that the new lead director and executive producer will be Otto Bathurst, who previously directed episodes of Peaky Blinders and Black Mirror. He also directed that bad Robin Hood reboot last year but let’s not talk about that. The nine-episode first season, with an original story, goes into production this June in Hungary.

As exciting as watching Halo on TV sounds, what’s even crazier is potentially playing Halo on your Nintendo Switch. But that might be happening according to new, credible rumors. We recently reported that Microsoft is primed to announce Xbox Live support on Switch as soon as GDC next month. But along with that online service Microsoft may also be bringing its Netflix-esque Game Pass subscription, currently available on Xbox and eventually PC, to Nintendo’s console/handheld hybrid.

Xbox Game Pass, combined with Microsoft’s Project xCloud, could allow Switch owners to simply stream the biggest Xbox games too powerful for the tablet’s own hardware. That means possibly getting Forza, Gears of War, Crackdown, and yes even the upcoming Halo: Infinite on the same device you use for Mario and Pokemon games. What a world! In addition to Game Pass the Switch also might be getting straight up ports of Microsoft games like Cuphead and Ori and the Blind Forest. Newly purchased Microsoft studio Ninja Theory is already bringing Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice to Switch so it’s not impossible.

Not since Halo (and Viva Pinata) on Nintendo DS have we been this excited for the joint future of Nintendo and Microsoft. Microsoft doesn’t have to pretend to care about making hardware. Nintendo doesn’t have to pretend to care about making online services. Sony doesn’t have to pretend to care about cross-play. Everyone wins! Banjo-Kazooie, Master Chief, and Minecraft Steve better get Super Smash Bros. Ultimate invitations after all this.